Thursday, 27 July 2017

Swedish Government On Verge Of Collapse

Swedish
Government On Verge Of Collapse After Admitting 'Accidental Leak' Of
Entire Nation's Info

Sweden’s
government is being quietly rocked by a major scandal. So
far the market has paid it little regard, but, as Citi warns, it
may soon escalate...

Sweden
appears to have accidentally leaked the details of almost all of its
citizens. And
now it's getting worse as the leak happened in 2015, but only emerged
last week. As
The Indepedent reports,

The
leak allowed unvetted IT workers in other countries to see the
details of people registered in Swedish government and police
databases.

It happened after the
government looked to outsource data held by the Transport Agency,
butdid
so in a way that allowed that information to be available to almost
anyone,
critics have claimed.

The opposition
is seeking to boot out the ministers of infrastructure, defence and
the interior –
Anna Johansson, Peter Hultqvist and Anders Ygeman, respectively –
for their role in outsourcing IT-services for the Swedish Transport
Agency in 2015.

Prime Minister
Stefan Lofven
admitted Monday his country and its citizens were exposed to risks by
potential leaks as a result of the contract.

The minority government
has said that contract process – won by IBM Sweden – was speeded
up,bypassing
some laws and internal procedures in a manner that may have led to
people abroad, handling servers with sensitive materials.

As
Reuters reports, the
scandal has raised questions about the way it has been handled within
the government.The
security police informed the Justice Ministry in late 2015 but Lofven
said he only found out about it early this year.

Lofven said Anna
Johansson, minister of infrastructure and responsible for the
Transport Agency, had not passed information on to him.

Johansson on
Sunday in turn blamed one of her former state secretaries for
not informing her about the scandal.

"I wish I
had been informed earlier," Lofven
said while adding he had no plans to fire any ministers. "I have
full confidence in them (ministers) until I say otherwise."

However,
as The Independent notes, the
centre right opposition Alliance, comprising the Moderate, Centre,
Liberal and Christian Democrat parties, has taken aim at Lofven's
cabinet...

"It
is obvious (they) have neglected their responsibility. They have not
taken action to protect Sweden's safety", Centre
party leader Annie Loof told a news conference.

Parliament is in recess
but the opposition parties will submit a request to the speaker to
summon legislators for a vote within 10 days.

If the
opposition gets a majority the ministers will have to resign, a
likely outcome as
the nationalist Sweden Democrats have said they will support a vote
of no-confidence.

"There
are only two alternatives, either a new election or he himself
(Lofven) resigns," Sweden
Democrats leader Jimmie Akesson said.

As Citi notes, SEK has
strengthened so far this week and no dramatic headlines seem to be
impacting the currency yet, but
some political noise may be on the way.

IBM Sweden says it never
comments on relations with clients. The government said it had no
comment pending a later statement, which Swedish
Prime Minister Lofven just announced that he will hold a press
conference on July 27th at 10am CET.

Finally we wonder
how long before Sweden blames Russia for leaking this 2-year-old
secret